Queensland Labor Party

Trade unionists in Queensland had begun attempting to secure parliamentary representation as early as the mid-1880s. William McNaughton Galloway, the president of the Seamen's Union, mounted an unsuccessful campaign as an independent in an 1886 by-election. A Workers' Political Reform Association was founded to nominate candidates for the 1888 election, at which the Brisbane Trades and Labor Council endorsed six candidates. Thomas Glassey won the seat of Bundamba at that election, becoming the first self-identified "labor" MP in Queensland. The Queensland Provincial Council of the Australian Labor Federation was formed in 1889 in an attempt to unite Labor campaign efforts. Tommy Ryan won the seat of Barcoo for the labour movement-run People's Parliamentary Association in 1892, and the Labor Party was formally established in Queensland following the first Labor-in-Politics Convention later that year.^[17]

The Queensland branch subsequently formed the first Labor government in Australia, albeit briefly, when Anderson Dawson took office for a week in 1899 after a falling out between the non-Labor forces.^[18]

Since 1989, when the party came back to power after thirty-two years in Opposition, all its leaders have become Premiers despite two spells in Opposition in 1996–98 and 2012–2015.

As of 2020, the Queensland branch has three factions: the right, headed by Annastacia Palaszczuk, the left, headed by Steven Miles, and the centralist faction, the Old Guard. Discounting Speaker Curtis Pitt, of the 47 Labor MPs, 24 belong to the Left, 16 to the Right, and 7 to the Old Guard.^[19]

As of the 2020 state election, Queensland Labor's seat distribution was as follows:

Membership and voter base edit

Historically (1910s–1960s) Queensland Labor's voter base and membership has been distributed fairly equitably across the metropolitan, urban, and rural areas of the state, although maintaining a demographic majority within the South East region.^[20] Beginning in the 1970s, Queensland Labor's voter base in particular has swayed more heavily toward the metropolitan and urban areas of the state such as Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, and Townsville, with the Country (later National) and Liberal parties competing with Labor in both regions as an electoral bloc.^[20]

Membership figures edit

Membership figures[20] Year Membership Diff. 1938 11,139 — 1976 6,890 38.15 1977 — — 1978 6,618 3.95 1979 6,570 0.73 1980 6,171 6.07 1981 6,596 6.89 1982 6,776 2.73 1983 7,623 12.5 1984 8,086 6.07 1985 7,817 3.33 1986 7,756 0.78 1987 7,578 2.29

Membership figures[20] Year Membership Diff. 1988 7,125 5.98 1989 6,367 10.64 1990 7,169 12.60 1991 7,213 0.61 1992 7,246 0.46 1993 — — 1994 7,492 3.39 1995 6,800 9.24 1996 6,800 1997 — — 1998 7,937 16.72 2012 5,000 37.00 2014 9,000 80.00 2021 10,000 11.11

Labor contests Brisbane City Council elections, and has done so since the inaugural election in 1925. It has been in opposition to the LNP (and before that, the Liberal Party) since 2008. The last Labor member to serve as Lord Mayor of Brisbane was Tim Quinn, who was defeated in 2004.^[21]

Historically, Labor also endorsed candidates outside of Brisbane, including in Ipswich, Townsville and Toowoomba.^[22]

The current Labor leader on Brisbane City Council is Jared Cassidy, who has served in the position since September 2019.^[23]

Leader edit

The full list below is the official record of parliamentary leaders:^[24]

No.	Leader (birth–death)	Portrait	Electorate	Term of office
1	Thomas Glassey (1844–1936)		Bundamba	August 1892	May 1893
				274 days
2	John Hoolan (1842–1911)		Burke	May 1893	July 1894
				1 year and 62 days
(1)	Thomas Glassey (1844–1936)		Bundamba	July 1894	May 1899
				4 years and 305 days
3	Anderson Dawson (1863–1910)		Charters Towers	May 1899	July 1900
				1 year and 62 days
4	W. H. Browne (1846–1904)		Croydon	July 1900	October 1903
				3 years and 93 days
5	Peter Airey (1865–1950)		Flinders	October 1903	April 1904
				184 days
6	George Kerr (1853–1930)		Barcoo	April 1904	April 1907
				3 years and 1 day
7	David Bowman (1860–1916)		Fortitude Valley	April 1907	9 September 1912
				5 years and 162 days
8	T. J. Ryan (1876–1921)		Barcoo	9 September 1912	22 October 1919
				7 years and 44 days
9	Ted Theodore (1884–1950)		Woothakata	22 October 1919	26 February 1925
				5 years and 128 days
10	William Gillies (1868–1928)		Eacham	26 February 1925	22 October 1925
				239 days
11	William McCormack (1879–1947)		Cairns	22 October 1925	21 May 1929
				3 years and 212 days
12	William Forgan Smith (1887–1953)		Mackay	27 May 1929	16 September 1942
				13 years and 113 days
13	Frank Arthur Cooper (1872–1949)		Bremer	16 September 1942	7 March 1946
				3 years and 173 days
14	Ned Hanlon (1887–1952)		Ithaca	7 March 1946	15 January 1952
				5 years and 315 days
15	Vince Gair (1901–1980)		South Brisbane	17 January 1952	24 April 1957
				5 years and 98 days
16	Jack Duggan (1910–1993)		Toowoomba	30 April 1957	3 August 1957
				96 days
17	Les Wood (1907–1958)		North Toowoomba	28 August 1957	29 March 1958
				214 days
18	Jim Donald (1895–1976)		Ipswich East	14 April 1958	17 August 1958
				126 days
(16)	Jack Duggan (1910–1993)		Toowoomba West	18 August 1958	11 October 1966
				8 years and 55 days
19	Jack Houston (1919–2008)		Bulimba	11 October 1966	22 July 1974
				7 years and 285 days
20	Perc Tucker (1919–1980)		Townsville West	22 July 1974	19 December 1974
				151 days
21	Tom Burns (1931–2007)		Lytton	19 December 1974	28 November 1978
				3 years and 345 days
22	Ed Casey (1933–2006)		Mackay	28 November 1978	20 October 1982
				3 years and 327 days
23	Keith Wright (1942–2015)		Rockhampton	20 October 1982	29 August 1984
				1 year and 315 days
24	Nev Warburton (1932–2018)		Sandgate	29 August 1984	2 March 1988
				3 years and 187 days
25	Wayne Goss (1951–2014)		Logan	2 March 1988	19 February 1996
				7 years and 355 days
26	Peter Beattie (b. 1952)		Brisbane Central	19 February 1996	12 September 2007
				11 years and 206 days
27	Anna Bligh (b. 1960)		South Brisbane	12 September 2007	28 March 2012
				4 years and 199 days
28	Annastacia Palaszczuk (b. 1969)		Inala	30 March 2012	15 December 2023
				11 years and 261 days
29	Steven Miles (b. 1977)		Murrumba	15 December 2023	Incumbent
				168 days

State elections edit

Election	Leader	Seats won	±	Total votes	%	±%	Position
1893	Thomas Glassey	16 / 72	16	25,984	33.32%	33.3%	Opposition
1896		20 / 72	4	28,581	34.97%	1.7%	Opposition
1899		21 / 72	1	33,756	35.47%	0.5%	Opposition
1902	William Browne	25 / 72	4	39,579	39.33%	3.9%	Opposition
1904	George Kerr	34 / 72	9	28,961	36.05%	3.3%	Opposition
1907	David Bowman	18 / 72	16	52,079	26.39%	9.7%	Opposition
1908		22 / 72	4	55,771	29.80%	3.4%	Opposition
1909		27 / 72	5	77,712	36.85%	7.1%	Opposition
1912		25 / 72	2	100,878	46.70%	9.9%	Opposition
1915	T. J. Ryan	45 / 72	20	136,419	52.06%	5.4%	Majority government
1918		48 / 72	3	180,709	53.68%	1.6%	Majority government
1920	Ted Theodore	38 / 72	7	168,455	47.77%	5.9%	Majority government
1923		43 / 72	5	175,659	48.13%	0.4%	Majority government
1926	William McCormack	43 / 72	0	189,968	47.96%	0.2%	Majority government
1929		27 / 72	16	173,242	40.16%	7.8%	Opposition
1932	William Forgan Smith	33 / 62	6	225,270	49.89%	9.7%	Majority government
1935		46 / 62	13	247,135	53.43%	3.6%	Majority government
1938		44 / 62	2	250,943	47.17%	6.3%	Majority government
1941		41 / 62	3	267,206	51.41%	4.2%	Majority government
1944	Frank Arthur Cooper	37 / 62	4	224,888	44.67%	6.7%	Majority government
1947	Ned Hanlon	35 / 62	2	272,103	43.58%	1.1%	Majority government
1950		42 / 75	7	295,138	46.87%	3.3%	Majority government
1953	Vince Gair	50 / 75	8	323,882	53.21%	6.3%	Majority government
1956		49 / 75	1	335,311	51.22%	2.0%	Majority government
1957	Jack Duggan	20 / 75	29	201,971	28.90%	22.3%	Opposition
1960		25 / 78	5	296,430	39.89%	11.0%	Opposition
1963		26 / 78	1	337,928	43.83%	3.9%	Opposition
1966		26 / 78	0	350,254	43.84%	0.0%	Opposition
1969	Jack Houston	31 / 78	5	383,388	44.99%	1.2%	Opposition
1972		33 / 82	2	424,002	46.75%	1.8%	Opposition
1974	Perc Tucker	11 / 82	22	376,187	36.03%	10.7%	Opposition
1977	Tom Burns	23 / 82	12	466,021	42.83%	6.8%	Opposition
1980	Ed Casey	25 / 82	2	487,493	41.49%	1.3%	Opposition
1983	Keith Wright	32 / 82	7	579,363	43.98%	2.5%	Opposition
1986	Nev Warburton	30 / 89	2	577,062	41.35%	2.6%	Opposition
1989	Wayne Goss	54 / 89	24	792,466	50.32%	9.0%	Majority government
1992		54 / 89	0	850,480	48.73%	1.6%	Majority government
1995		45 / 89	9	773,585	42.89%	5.8%	Majority government
1998	Peter Beattie	44 / 89	1	773,585	38.86%	4.0%	Minority government
2001		66 / 89	22	1,007,737	48.93%	10.1%	Majority government
2004		63 / 89	3	1,011,630	47.01%	1.9%	Majority government
2006		59 / 89	4	1,032,617	46.92%	0.1%	Majority government
2009	Anna Bligh	51 / 89	8	1,002,415	42.25%	4.7%	Majority government
2012		7 / 89	44	652,092	26.66%	15.6%	Opposition
2015	Annastacia Palaszczuk	44 / 89	35	983,054	37.47%	10.8%	Minority government
2017		48 / 93	4	957,890	35.43%	2.0%	Majority government
2020		52 / 93	4	1,135,625	39.58%	4.15%	Majority government

Federal elections edit

Election	Seats Won	±	Total Votes	%	±	Leader
1901	3 / 9	3	21,264	34.80%	34.80%	No leader
1903	7 / 9	4	63,878	56.70%	21.90%	Chris Watson
1906	4 / 9	3	51,231	43.00%	13.70%
1910	6 / 9	2	78,881	47.60%	4.60%	Andrew Fisher
1913	7 / 10	1	149,447	54.80%	7.20%
1914	7 / 10	0	125,017	55.70%	0.90%
1917	4 / 10	3	160,448	48.70%	7.00%	Frank Tudor
1919	3 / 10	1	149,588	46.80%	1.90%
1922	2 / 10	1	132,515	41.40%	5.40%	Matthew Charlton
1925	1 / 10	1	152,778	42.40%	1.00%
1928	2 / 10	1	112,982	47.40%	5.00%	James Scullin
1929	3 / 10	1	173,417	39.80%	7.60%
1931	5 / 10	2	141,443	39.30%	0.50%
1934	5 / 10	0	235,904	46.80%	7.50%
1937	5 / 10	0	233,612	43.00%	3.80%	John Curtin
1940	6 / 10	1	255,063	46.10%	3.10%
1943	6 / 10	0	279,372	47.80%	1.70%
1946	5 / 10	1	256,370	43.10%	4.70%	Ben Chifley
1949	3 / 18	2	255,036	39.50%	3.60%
1951	4 / 18	1	257,099	41.00%	1.50%
1954	5 / 18	1	295,424	42.50%	1.50%	H.V. Evatt
1955	5 / 18	0	258,994	42.10%	0.40%
1958	3 / 18	2	270,676	37.50%	4.60%
1961	11 / 18	8	365,930	48.10%	10.60%	Arthur Calwell
1963	8 / 18	3	369,570	46.30%	1.80%
1966	6 / 18	2	354,674	42.10%	4.20%
1969	7 / 18	1	430,403	48.20%	6.10%	Gough Whitlam
1972	8 / 18	1	449,620	47.20%	1.00%
1974	6 / 18	2	476,710	44.00%	3.20%
1975	1 / 18	5	439,405	38.80%	5.20%
1977	3 / 19	2	443,221	37.70%	1.10%
1980	5 / 19	2	535,800	42.80%	5.10%	Bill Hayden
1983	10 / 19	5	621,146	46.10%	3.30%	Bob Hawke
1984	9 / 24	1	605,684	44.10%	2.00%
1987	13 / 24	4	683,640	45.00%	0.90%
1990	15 / 24	2	695,291	41.60%	3.40%
1993	13 / 25	2	739,862	40.50%	1.10%	Paul Keating
1996	2 / 26	11	639,510	33.20%	7.30%
1998	8 / 27	6	719,743	36.10%	2.90%	Kim Beazley
2001	7 / 27	1	730,914	34.70%	1.40%
2004	6 / 28	1	765,507	34.78%	0.08%	Mark Latham
2007	15 / 29	9	1,020,665	42.91%	8.13%	Kevin Rudd
2010	8 / 30	7	800,712	33.58%	9.33%	Julia Gillard
2013	6 / 30	2	751,230	29.77%	3.81%	Kevin Rudd
2016	8 / 30	2	825,627	30.91%	1.14%	Bill Shorten
2019	6 / 30	2	754,792	26.68%	4.23%
2022	5 / 30	1	784,189	27.5%	0.8%	Anthony Albanese

Notes

Citations